Pushing change on users now seems to be standard modus operandi for Facebook: announce a feature, allow users to opt in for a while, and then force the feature on all remaining users many months later. It's precisely what happened with Facebook Timeline.

The problem, as most of us know, is if you haven't opted into the new feature, service, or change, it blindsides you when it arrives. You haven't had time to read up on what it means or how it will change your Facebook account. You don't know what's private and what's exposed.

If you unexpectedly have a new Facebook email address, here's what you need to know about what it is and how to change it.

What is Facebook Email?
Facebook email is essentially Facebook Messages. You can find it via the speech bubble icon at the upper left corner of your Facebook screen, between friend requests and notifications. (See slide 1 in the slideshow.)

When the email address first appears, it may show up as a string of numbers and "@facebook.com" at the end, until you customize it. For me, it appeared first as a string of numbers, and then later the same day it inexplicably changed to match my Facebook vanity URL. (See slide 2 in the slideshow.)

Email sent to your @facebook.com address shows up in your Messages. It won't forward to any other place (unless you have set up rules that would do so). Additionally, someone who is not on Facebook can send you an email that on your end looks like a Facebook message. There are some privacy settings you can adjust to block people from messaging you, which I'll explain in detail in a moment.

Is Facebook Email Public?
When I first spotted my new Facebook email address, while it was still just a string of numbers and @facebook.com at the end, it was set to be publicly displayed on my Timeline. Since then, some users have reported that their new email address showed up as on their Timelines by default, but "visible only to me." It's unclear what settings Facebook is using for the default.

Here's how to check if your Facebook email address is public.

Go to your Facebook Timeline or page (get there by clicking on your name at the top left).

Click About. It's on the left side beneath your profile picture and short information about you.

3. Look for Contact Info, and select Edit. Next to each of your email addresses are two settings: a) The first one controls who can see each email address: public, friends, only you, or some customized setting, which can include special groups of friends, if you've created any. b) The second setting controls whether the email address appears on your Timeline.

Can I Delete My Facebook Email Address?
You cannot delete a Facebook email address. If you try to delete it, you'll see an error message (see slide 3). All you can do is hide it or make it visible to "only me," (see slide 4) but you cannot get rid of it.

How to Block Anyone from Emailing You via Facebook
Even if you hide your Facebook email address, outside users can still email you through your Facebook account unless you change a few privacy settings (see slide 5).

Go to privacy settings (under the triangle at the top right of the screen).

Look for How You Connect and click Edit.

You'll see three privacy options, which are set to "Everyone" by default: Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided? (Everyone); Who can send you friend requests? (Everyone); and Who can send you Facebook messages? (Everyone).

You have two other options for controlling who can message you: Friends; and Friends of Friends. If you set all three to "Friends," then only your Facebook friends can email you, although they can send a message to your Facebook message center from any email that they have associated with their Facebook account. If their email addresses are not associated with their Facebook accounts, their messages won't be delivered.

Recommendations
If you want to keep your Facebook page as private as possible, I recommend taking three steps:

changing the privacy settings to "friends" for all three options (as listed in the section How to Block Anyone from Emailing You Via Facebook" above)

hiding your Facebook.com email address from Timeline

making your Facebook.com email address visible only to you.

Additionally, if you like to keep your professional life totally separate from Facebook, make sure you don't list any of your work email addresses in your contact information, too.

There may be benefits to making your Facebook email address public and letting your professional and personal lives mingle, so of course not everyone will want to zip up their Facebook accounts. It depends how you use Facebook and whether you want unknown people to contact you (perhaps for business opportunities), or whether you use Facebook for only personal information and want to keep your profile and contact details as private as possible.

About the Author

Jill Duffy is a contributing editor, specializing in productivity apps and software, as well as technologies for health and fitness. She writes the weekly Get Organized column, with tips on how to lead a better digital life. Her first book, Get Organized: How to Clean Up Your Messy Digital Life is available for Kindle, iPad, and other digital forma... See Full Bio

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